


Unsteady

by Cozy_coffee



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Community: comment_fic, Families of Choice, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-04-20 12:28:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21975547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cozy_coffee/pseuds/Cozy_coffee
Summary: A fill for the comment_fic prompt; Prodigal Son, Malcolm Bright + any, This is world war me/Wooh oh oooh I will never find peace. I look into the mirror and I hate what I've become, 'cause I'm the only casualty from damage that I've done. I'm the only enemy in world war me (World War Me - Theory of a Dead Man)
Relationships: Gil Arroyo & Malcolm Bright
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20
Collections: Bite Sized Bits of Fic from 2019





	Unsteady

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cornerofmadness](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cornerofmadness/gifts).

It was very late in the night, yet Malcolm cannot sleep. He has too many stones weighing heavily on his shoulders. His teeth grind, his skin felt like it was on fire. He bows his head; silent and still. He can hear Gil in the kitchen as his friend attempts to fix him a comforting meal.

Malcolm doesn’t feel like eating, his ribs ache and burn. He has no gusto for food. His hands shake, his breathing is heavy, and his weary eyes closed shut. He was so close to finding out the truth, yet all he gained for his trouble was pain.

‘Because we are the same!’ He had screamed from his lungs when the junk yard killer inquired how he had been so smart to track him down. Malcolm wondered if he was in fact a killer like his father. The rotten apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, after all. He was exhausted. His ribs bare the marks of battle, raw, red marks that seem to hiss like a serpent.

Gil brings him a plate and cup, and Malcolm smiles, despite the pain. A grilled cheese sandwich and chocolate milk. The first meal Jackie made for him when he was taken in for a few nights after his father was arrested.

Even though Gil was angry at Malcolm’s foolishness of running into a dark tunnel with a killer, he felt sorry for the kid. No matter how fiercely Malcolm fought for the truth, needing answers about his past, the path to a resolution was filled with sorrow. His smile has faded, no trace of happiness, and Gil missed that kid who once giggled even on the darkness of days.

Sitting beside Malcolm, Gil gently trails his hand down the kid’s back, massaging softly, and he can feel how tense Malcolm is, how strung tight the muscles are, like a bow-string ready to snap. He wraps an arm around his shoulder, and Malcolm breathes out a heavy sigh and his body relaxes slightly, taking comfort in a moment of heaven after all the Hell he had endured.

♥ END ♥

**Author's Note:**

> [Written for this prompt!](https://comment-fic.livejournal.com/1063440.html?thread=113459472#t113459472)


End file.
